Welcome to The GBU, a weekly column coming every Monday where I look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly on TV.

It's a new year and 2011 is getting off to a fast start with a ton of new and returning shows this January. While my DVR runneth over, I urge you to pick and choose which ones to watch, and hopefully I can help by pointing out what's good and what's not.

Here's the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of TV in January.

The Good: Remakes of British Shows

Usually the thought of a U.S. remake is enough to send shivers down my spine, but this year I'm very optimistic thanks to three new shows. Showtime has Shameless, a drama about a very unconventional family starring William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum. The first 20 minutes, shown after the Dexter finale, promise a very twisted and exciting show that is already on my must-watch list, partly due to a leftover love of Reba and its star Steve Howey, who plays the next door neighbor on Shameless.

MTV has a remake of Skins, the cutting edge British series about young people dealing with issues of sex and drugs. The frenetic pace of the series fits in perfectly with the short attention spans of MTV viewers, and if done right, it could tap into something much like Jersey Shore did.

Finally there's the remake I'm most excited about, Syfy's Being Human. The show about vampires, werewolves and ghosts has a stellar cast (former Smallville hunk Sam Witwer and the multi-talented Mark Pellegrino from Lost and Supernatural) and it could take the vampire trend to a whole new level.

The Bad: Another Rhimes Medical Relationship Drama

Shonda Rhimes is the creator of Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, two dramas about the romantic troubles of sexy doctors. Now Rhimes is executive producer of yet another one of those shows called Off the Map, where the only twist is that it takes place in a small South American village. Does ABC really need three of the same show? The only difference is that instead of McDreamy, we'll get Senor Sueno.
 
The Ugly:  Reality Redux

Brad Womack on The Bachelor? Paula Abdul judging a reality competition show? Is it 2007 again? Like a bad acid flashback, The Bachelor is giving the man who rejected his finalists last time a second chance at love, and CBS is giving Abdul another chance to slur her craziness all over the airwaves with Live to Dance.

Throw in quick turnarounds for new seasons of Jersey Shore and The Biggest Loser plus an inconceivable second season of NBC's celebrity genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? and you have a disastrous month for reality TV.


(Images courtesy of ABC and Syfy)